Massage therapy is the science concerned with pressure applied to body muscle to stretch and relieve muscle spasms. Skilled massage therapists often use their hands to accomplish this response. Certain treatments, however, are best accomplished slowly or at a certain repeatable frequency that is optimally achieved by machines.
For example, back problems are often caused by disc degeneration. As a result of accidents causing trauma, or improper posture that occurs through long work days of sitting, and lack of exercise, vertebrae discs lose their cushioning abilities and may deteriorate to a position allowing adjacent vertebrae to contact and rub against the nerve. This can be quite painful and, for discs to remain healthy, doctors recommend regular exercise regimens.
In addition to exercise, it has long been recognized that moving a correctly positioned roller longitudinally relative to the spine may retard disc degeneration and may actually repair damaged discs through increased circulation and audible action which is essentially the release of natural buildup of the free floating gases in the body located in the joints. As a consequence, therapy tables relying upon various arrangements of rollers and components inducing vibration are becoming increasingly popular for use in the doctor's office and as retail consumer purchases for home use. This is because such tables can generally operate without close supervision by a doctor.
In view of the above, massage tables are generally available to the public in only one of two ways. The first approach to availability is retail customer purchase for home use. Since these tables can be very expensive, particularly massage tables designed to have actual therapeutic effects, cost prohibitiveness is a factor preventing widespread use. The second approach to use is in a doctor's office. While this avoids the need for the patient to make a large retail purchase, the average cost of use is still high since it is billed at a relatively large dollar amount for a small predetermined time interval (e.g., the average price being about $25.00/10 to 15 minutes of use).
It is accordingly an object of the invention to enhance the availability of massage tables to users without the need for expensive home purchase.
Another object is to increase the use of massage tables without requiring a visit to a doctor's office to either obtain a prescription or to use a massage table.
Still a further object is to make available to users a high quality table at low cost, and to locate these massage tables in needed practical locations where people yearn for such devices.
Yet a further object is to make such tables available in which the table design is based on the specifications dictated by the doctor.